Worked in Rats what about people?
beta
← All goals

Anti-aging

The longevity shelf is mostly mouse results. The one thing with strong human numbers is not for sale.

The short version

We found no trial showing a pill or peptide makes healthy people live longer. Several move a lab number without making people healthier. The strongest human signal by far is fitness.

What has human numbers

A

Being fit

A study followed 122,007 adults for a median of 8.4 years after a treadmill test. The least-fit quarter died at about 5 times the rate of the fittest 2%. Being below average instead of above average carried about the same extra risk as smoking. This kind of study shows a link. It cannot prove cause.

the strongest number on this page

B

NMN and NR (NAD boosters)

They do raise NAD in the blood. A review of 12 trials in 513 people found most health results no different from placebo. Other reviews found no gain in muscle, grip strength, weight, blood sugar or cholesterol.

moves the number, not the health

B

Urolithin A

Two trials, both co-written by staff of the company that makes it. One trial had 66 older adults. Their muscles lasted longer before tiring. But the trial had two main goals: walking distance and how much energy the muscles made. On both, it did no better than placebo. In middle-aged adults, strength rose about 12%, but the main goal, peak power, did not improve.

side results up, main results flat

B

Rapamycin (prescription drug)

Mice given it late in life lived longer. A 48-week trial in healthy adults missed its main goal: belly fat did not change. Lean mass and pain improved only in women in one group. Every author worked for the company that ran the trial. No study shows people live longer.

worked in mice

B

Metformin (prescription drug)

We found no finished trial that tested it against aging in people. In a 14-week trial of 94 healthy adults over 65 doing strength training, the placebo group gained more muscle than the metformin group.

older lifters built less muscle on it

Gym lore, checked

Gym lore is what people say, not what we recommend. Each one is followed by what studies in people show. Stories are real experiences. They are not proof.

"epitalon lengthens your telomeres"

Only in a lab dish. Telomeres are the caps on the ends of your chromosomes. They got longer in cells in a dish, first in a 2003 Russian study and again in a 2025 study, which also saw it in cancer cells. A 2026 review found no proper randomized trial in people. The claim about living longer rests on one 266-person study by the same Russian group, using a different extract.

Lab dish onlyOne research group

"MOTS-c is exercise in a vial"

Mice only, so far. MOTS-c helped mice move better, and your own body makes more of it when you exercise. A related drug finished an early safety study that enrolled 88 people, and no results have been published. The FDA's safety-risk page lists concerns about MOTS-c. It sits in that page's "nominated but withdrawn" table.

No published human results

"senolytics clear out your zombie cells"

Early and tiny. In a 9-person study with no placebo group, fat and skin samples showed fewer worn-out cells after a drug pair. A randomized trial in 60 older women missed its main bone goal. A 10-person pilot of fisetin saw a biological-age test go down in 4 people and up in 5.

Pilot studiesNo clear health benefit yet

"thymosin alpha-1 boosts your immune system"

A hepatitis drug abroad. Not an approved drug in the US. A 2009 review reported approval in more than 35 countries, mainly for hepatitis B and C. The FDA says there is too little safety information on compounded versions. The largest trial, in 1,106 adults with sepsis, found deaths about the same as placebo: 23.4% versus 24.1%.

Approved abroad for hepatitisBig trial found no benefit

What we don't know

  • Whether any of these makes a healthy person live longer. No trial has run long enough to tell.
  • Whether raising a blood marker like NAD means anything for health.
  • What years of use does.

Sources

  1. Fitness and death rates in 122,007 adults. JAMA Network Open, 2018. Journal page
  2. NMN, review of 12 trials. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2024. Journal page
  3. NMN and NR in older adults, muscle outcomes. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 2025. Journal page
  4. NAD boosters and metabolic outcomes, review of 15 trials. Nutrients, 2026. Journal page
  5. Urolithin A in older adults. JAMA Network Open, 2022. Journal page
  6. Urolithin A in middle-aged adults. Cell Reports Medicine, 2022. Journal page
  7. Rapamycin in healthy adults (PEARL). Aging, 2025. Journal page
  8. Rapamycin and lifespan in mice. Nature, 2009. Journal page
  9. Metformin and strength training in older adults (MASTERS). Aging Cell, 2019. Journal page
  10. Epitalon, 2026 review of the evidence. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. Journal page
  11. Epitalon and telomeres in cells, 2025. Biogerontology. Journal page
  12. Epitalon and telomeres in cells, 2003. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine. Journal page
  13. MOTS-c and physical performance in mice. Nature Communications, 2021. Journal page
  14. CB4211 early safety study, registry entry NCT03998514. ClinicalTrials.gov
  15. FDA list of substances that may be risky to compound. FDA
  16. Senolytics, 9-person pilot. EBioMedicine, 2019. Journal page
  17. Senolytics in older women, bone trial. Nature Medicine, 2024. Journal page
  18. Thymosin alpha-1 review. Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, 2009. Journal page
  19. Thymosin alpha-1 in sepsis, trial in 1,106 adults. BMJ, 2025. Journal page

Studies found on PubMed. Last checked November 12, 2026. Information only. Not medical advice.